CRUSHED BUT NOT DESTROYED
/ CRUSHED BUT NOT DESTROYED 10 A NEW PAGE OF LIFE
Isaiah 43:18–19 KJV
Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.
Welcome to a new page of life, a new hope, because a new day has come with new things ahead to restore the lost hopes and to renew your future. In our previous chapters, we read that we were created in Christ for good work. You were not made to be destroyed but to bear fruits that will last.
"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain…"
John 15:16 KJV
God is not interested in your yesterday which was the old page of life but he is very much interested in the new page of your life.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV
Whenever the word New is mentioned, it means that Old was once existing—New does not exist without old, so it is the old that leads one to new. In the recycling system, when an object becomes obsolete, it would be recycled and from it, a new thing is made. In all bad situations, as long as you are in God's plan, God is making a new situation from it.
When we say there is a new page of life, it also means that there was an old page of life, something good is never witnessed in the old page of one's life, it is always full of sorrow and agony but coming into your new page of life is like coming from wilderness to wonders, grass to grace. Today, God is opening a new page for you, it is a page of remembrance and may you be remembered whenever you have been forgotten.
There is one joyful thing about the Lord in his act of remembrance when Jacob married his two wives, Leah had no problem in producing children but it seemed that Rachel's womb was locked; she could not bear a child, guess the type of contempt Leah would be displaying. The psalmist once wrote, "Lord, we have bore much contempt" and in another chapter he wrote; "We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long. O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name forever" (Psalms 74:9–10 KJV). I sincerely believed that these must be the meditation of Rachel in her plight. She may look at her sister, but before she knew it, Leah has delivered a child. Who knows, if it happened in our world today, I believe Rachel would have undergone a lot of medical tests. To those of you who are experiencing the same situation, you may have done necessary tests and nothing was confirmed as the cause, but do not forget that Rachel later had her children.
And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
Genesis 30:22 KJV.
As the Lord remembered Rachel, so shall he remember you.
Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof.
Nehemiah 13:14 KJV.
Another case of such a thing was recorded in the book one of Samuel, exactly the same thing that occurred in the lives of Jacob and his two wives also happened in the life of Elkanah and his two wives, just as Elkanah married them, Peninah was producing children as if she possessed a child manufacturing industry, she would take in and before Hannah knew it, she (Peninah) had delivered and ready to take in again, you can imagine the type of words she would be using on Hannah, in fact she will be telling her what will make her to kill herself or seek for a divorce but thank God for Hannah that she trusted in the Lord.
In African context, the issue of childbearing is one of the most priority of any family, you know how women react with their fellow women in terms of competition; maybe who married the best husband, whose husband is the richest, whose son is performing well, etc. So how much more when it comes to the issue of one who is bearing child and another is not? Though I have not been in the shoes of the barren women but at least, I know what they are passing through especially on the side of their mothers-in-law, can you guess the type of bombshell Peninah would be dropping on Hannah? Can you guess how she would be petting her own kids especially when Hannah was around? When Hannah could not bear it anymore, she cried unto the Lord. Guess what? "… and the Lord remembered Hannah" (1 Samuel 1:19 KJV) "...and the Lord remembered Rachel" (Genesis 30:22 KJV) so shall the Lord remember you in every aspect of your life where you have been crushed.
Do not forget that a lot of sorrowful things do occurr in one's old page of life but the very moment the Lord God will open a new page for you, those who looked at you and told you that you could never amount to anything in life, they will come to you to apologize. Whenever the Lord remembers anybody, the testimony of that person changes automatically, he (God) will pay you back all you have lost, what cankerworm, palmerworm had destroyed, and he will restore your joy and fill your mouth with laughter. Every day may not be your day but your day is coming because one day sunshine from God is enough to dry up all your tears. "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter" (Psalm 126:1–2 KJV). He is the God that steps back to eternity and restore your lost glory, joy, job, wealth, etc.
When Mordecai was in the old page of his life, all the good things he did for the king was forgotten, he saved the life of the king.
In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai's name."
Esther 2:21–23 KJV
One funny thing in this story was that Mordecai may be expecting to receive from the king the due reward but it was not as he thought, in our world today, we may have experienced a situation whereby the good help or service we rendered to our fellow human beings were not rewarded immediately, but let us not forget what the Bible says— "Let us not be weary in doing good for in due season, we will reap the harvest if we faint not." (Gal. 6:9) Knowing fully well that payday comes some day, though we may not be rewarded immediately, but the author of Hebrew has the answer.
For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed towards his name.
Hebrews 6:10 KJV
God who is your rewarder is not like government body who after serving them with relentless effort, they may withhold your pension. Mordecai may have forgotten his good act, though it was delayed but it was not denied, when Mordecai was expecting nothing, suddenly, his new page was opened, it opened when almost all hope was gone:
"On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king." Esther 6:1 KJV
May the book of remembrance where the record of your good deeds be open before the Lord. In the life of Mordecai, when the payday came, he was somewhere, unknown to him that his page was about to be opened, one thing led to the other, and the other to another, suddenly his page was opened. Your book of remembrance, no matter where it is hidden, no matter who hid it, may things lead to other, and the other to another for you to be remembered because: For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges (Deuteronomy 32:31 KJV). It is never your business to know how it will happen. Don't ask how it can be possible. That same God who opened the page of Mordecai and remembered him also knows how to open your new page of life, that same God who remembered Rachel and Hannah, may he, through his mercy remember you speedily.
A new page of life is the moment of discovering the hidden treasure which you were not able to see due to your old page of life, and now you are in the new page of life, God has removed the old garment of suffering because that is the first thing he does as soon as you are about to enter into new page of life, Jesus said "And no man seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment…" (Mark.2:22 KJV). When the prodigal son returned home, the first thing his father did was to remove his old garment and put on a new garment on him, because you can never enter into a new page with the old garment. Get ready to remove your old garment because you are now about to enter into your rest. You have finished gathering, it is now time to enjoy what you have gathered. The old page is the season when no one cares or appreciate your good work, they will use evil to pay your good work but don't give up for in due season, God will remember you. Don't close a book simply because the first chapter was not interesting, turn to the next page, who knows, you may see what you are looking for.
DON'T GO BACK
We are now in the field and the whistle has been blown for us to start running, it is left for you to either complete the race or quit but the race which you have started very long ago, try to finish it, if not for any other thing but for the sake of the prize that lies ahead. Whenever an athlete is on the pitch to compete, he or she has a lot of challenges, either to overcome or lose, the fans to cheer him up and opponent to oppose him, there are certain things one need to consider before quitting—he has to think what would be the fate of his fans, what would his enemy say? So for the sake of all these things, he will not have to go back but has to continue to finish the race, who did you leave your unfinished work for?
Peter told Jesus that he had toiled all the night. Let us estimate his toiling at about 80m and his reward lies exactly at 100 meters where Jesus was waiting to reward his night labor, so had Peter exited in between fifty—ninety meters, he would not have received his reward that was at 100 meters. Have you toiled all the nights, years and now you are thinking that you cannot tolerate it any more and about to quit? If you do, all your labor will be in vain. Each man's reward lies at the end of his labor because no man has ever received his reward at the middle of his labor, summon courage to finish any unfinished work in your life because at the end lies the reward. The prize of life is not for the starters but for the finishers.
Sometimes, a good number of people have a very good beginning but never have a good ending, the reason is that, they are the type of people that go back whenever they face challenges, the beginning does not matter so much but how you ended is what people are interested in. I'm always perplexed when I hear people saying 'Lord, I will serve you in every circumstances' but when the road gets tough, they back off. A lot of people may be saying that come rain come shine, come storm come whatever, that they will not go back. But when the situation gets too tough, they back off.
It is never the will of God to see any of his children going back. When the Hebrews were on their way to the promised land, suddenly, they looked behind and saw Pharaoh with his vast armies approaching and in front of them was the red sea, in fact, they were surrounded by all manner of challenges "And the Lord said unto Moses wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward" (Exodus 14:15 KJV). No matter how adverse and tough the situation might seem to be, the Lord will not in any way want you to go back. What kind of enjoyment did the Jews derive that would make them to think of going back to Egypt rather than to move forward to enter into the Promised Land where milk and honey flowed? I wonder the type of challenges that will make you to think of remaining where you are instead of moving forward and have a new page of life.
In every promised land, there is always a giant there to oppose but no matter how fully armed they might be, the battle is not ours, it is our duty to move forward and it is left for the Lord to fight the battle, if you are thinking of going back as a result of your adversity, remember that some people somewhere are looking at you, and your going back will affect them, someday in their lives, when they come to that point where you turned back, they will also turn back, but if you move forward, when they come to that point, they will also move forward. Peter told the disciples that he was going a finishing, all of them followed him.
No one forces you to move forward, you have every right either to go back or to move forward. God told the Jews through Moses that he laid before them life and death, the options were left for them to choose one. To go back is to remain in an old page but to move forward is to have a new page of life.
Do not, because of challenges decide to remain in the old page of life, every man's desire is to have a new page of life, a new page of life is a new beginning, passing from death to life, from darkness to light and from Egypt to the promised land.
Fierce may be the conflict, strong may be the foe, tough may be the journey, narrow may be the road, cloud may envelop the way, darkness may cover the site, sunshine may get faint and fainter, songs of victory keep diminishing, voice of comfort keeps fading, hope and joy keeps flickering, friends and loved one keep running away, chances of survival keeps shaking, life keeps treating you bad and unkind, the evil winds keep blowing harshly, tears and sorrow becomes your comfort and agony keeps reminding you of your injuries and adversities; don't go back because very soon it shall be well again because your life is hidden in Christ Jesus and you were created in him for good work and because Christ made it, you will make it as well.
Remember that each level of adversity you experienced has its promoting motive. No matter how long the night might seemed to last, it must surely break and a new day must surely come.
WHY ADVERSITY BEFORE ONE'S NEW PAGE OF LIFE
One may ask, does God deliberately send adversities to his children before blessing them? We cannot question him because he is in heaven and does what pleases him. At times, we may be very curious to get something we are looking for but God keeps delaying it, and at times we asked ourselves if we should reject God simply because he delayed our desire. He purposely delayed it for him to use that period to prepare you, when you get the blessing, you will use it very well. For whatever situations you see yourself, God is bigger than our questions; he is the one that knows the end from the beginning.
He knows exactly to what extent one can go in managing what he gives him, "I the Lord searches the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to the fruit of his doing" (Jeremiah 17:10 KJV). One preacher said that there was a man who was faithful to the work of the Lord, but immediately God blessed him. Pride became the order of the day, he could not control the wealth, and a faithful brother started chasing women around. So, had that brother passed through adversity, face challenges from all corners of his life, I am sure that if he went through the test and passed the test, believe me, he will not mess up with the blessing. Many have disappointed God as a result of not being able to manage what he (God) has entrusted into their hands.
Go through the Bible and tell me a great man who made it on a platter of gold, all of them paid the price including Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, check the history of the world today, the records of the founding fathers of the great nations, the household names, you will see how terribly they suffered. God does not want people, wasting his resources. When one makes money easily, he spends it extravagantly but when he makes it out of his sweat, he spends it carefully.
Why adversity before new page of life in the lives of individuals is a question everyone will desire to ask "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you" (1 Peter 5:10 KJV), before God will bless you, he will make you understand that by strength shall no man prevail:
But thou shall remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. Deuteronomy 8:18 KJV
God uses adversity to prepare us for the next level and each particular adversity has its reward ahead therefore, don't go back.
IT'S TIME FOR TOUGH DECISIONS
The choice is yours either to go back and remain in the old page or to continue to push forward in order to be welcomed in the new page of life. It is a personal decision and it is the journey of you and you alone.
There is one thing which is common in the life history of eagles and it has to be a personal decision to any of them. Eagles enjoy the longest life expectancy among the bird species. They can live up to seventy years but in order to survive—to be welcomed in a new page of life—they have to make a very difficult and painful decision at the age of forty. When eagles turn forty, their claws weaken and it's hard for them to catch preys, their beaks grow long and curved almost touching their chest, their wings are heavier due to thick and long feathers.
So at this period of time which is between the old page and the new page of life, an eagle has two choices to make— it has a choice either to die or live by undergoing a painful transformation. If it chooses to die, it will remain where it is; but if it decides to live, it has to fly to the mountain top and build a home there for a period of five months—it has to hit its beaks against the rock till they fall off and wait patiently for the new beaks to develop. When the new beaks grows, it will use it to pull out its old nails and feathers. Both the nails and feathers will develop new ones, and at the end of five months, the eagle will fly again with new feathers, beak, and claws. With these process which took eagles a painful period of five months of transformation, they have renew their strength for another thirty years.
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, an not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 KJV
It takes the eagle five good months to undergo their transformation for them to be welcomed into new page of life. Mind you, it is a choice and not by force. Each of them has to decide what to do. The mother eagle will not decide for her young ones; it is the survival of the determined. Sometimes in life, we have to take a very painful decision in order to embark on a new journey of life. But remember, as the life of eagles lie in their hands, so does your destiny lie in your hands. Do you want to enter in a new page of life? Then make a decision.
Sometimes in life, God will leave you to be crushed but he will not allow you to be destroyed. Men will reject you but God will not abandon you. Let your situation be between you and God because two are friends but three is crowd. The third party will keep you out of the purpose of God for your life. Turn your situation into a stepping stone. Though you may be crushed and people may look at you and call you a failure, good for nothing, but these are human judgment and not God's. If you do not value yourself, no man will value you and if you do not appreciate yourself, no one will appreciate you.
Yesterday's pain is gone, although it could be remembered but can never be felt. Today's own will soon go but tomorrow has good news for we are looking for a better tomorrow. On a particular morning, there was a heavy rain in the town to the extent that the street's road were covered by flood, people found it difficult to cross to the other side, it seemed that, it will be the end of the journey to the flood-by but later in the day time, sun-dried up the puddles, the flood which covered the road disappeared, people started moving freely again.
You may be having a very good beginning but along the line, things suddenly change, don't go back but keep on moving, the storm will soon be over and sunshine will be on the sky again. Sometimes, problems may cover us that we cannot see the trace of the light, but just a little while, with good understanding of the time coupled with endurance and meekness, we shall inherit the earth. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." (Matt. 5:5).
When we value our situations, God will perform wonders, no matter how we are crushed; God has his own way of doing things because he makes the minute things of this world which was nothing to be something, only if you believe, all things are possible.
And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, why sit we here until we die? If we say, we will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. And they rose up in the twilight to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there. For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots and a noise of houses, even the noise of a great host…" 2 King 7:3–7 KJV
These four men did not stay at a place complaining, blaming God for their crushing but they rather made decision to move forward through which God used to perform a miracle, each step of faith they took, God modified it as the steps of the mighty warriors. Your duty is to initiate the process, God's own is to perfect it, it is left for you to start and it is for God to act and perfect it because he that begun a good work in you will perfect it.
Here are the men that God used to save the entire nation of Israel from prolong starvation due to the decision four of them took. I believe that people must have written these four men off, even if census was to be conducted, they would not be counted because people had rejected them, due to their afflictions, despite they were crushed, but they were not destroyed. If we take a deep look at this miracle, it proves to us that God uses what men have rejected and abandoned to wrought miracle, he makes the counsel of the wise vain, to these four men, they may not understand the reason for their plight, also on the side of the Jews, they in their wildest dream did not believe that the stone the builders rejected would one day be the chief cornerstone. Do you know that your situation is for a divine purpose which will later surface?
God wants you to take a decision so that he will act on it. Remember, Esther took a decision (Esther 4:16) and God stood on it and acted. So, God is waiting for you to take a decision so that he will act on it.
Tell me, if enzymes do not see food, what would they act on? Your duty is to push down food into your stomach and that is the only thing enzymes need from you, and it is their responsibility to act on it to give you energy and nutrients. If you do not do your job, they will not do their own as well. It's until you react that they will act and that is you and God. God must base on something to do something, it could be faith—no matter how big or small it may be—sometimes, it could be action.
There must be action for reaction to occur, you may not know the suitable time enzymes works, and so, you don't know how God will act when you initiate or trigger the action. For as high heaven is to earth, so is God's thought higher than our thought and his ways higher than our ways. Just turn on the engine and the car will move. Newton's first law of motion goes in line with what we are saying, "A body will continue to stay in its state of rest or uniform motion unless it is acted upon by an external force." As long as you are still at a place complaining, a miracle will remain and continue in its state of rest until you take action for God to react as you can see it in the lives of the four lepers in 2 Kings 7:3–6.
Push and there will be movement.
Chapter end
|
Report
|
|
Donate
Oh o, this user has not set a donation button.
|
